The present invention relates generally to child restraint and safety devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to child restraint and safety (CRS) devices, such as child car seats and booster seats.
In the prior art, child safety restraints, such as those for use in a vehicle are very well known in the art. Such restraints are secured to an existing vehicle car seat. The child is then secured to the restraint to secure the child during travel. These prior art restraints are typically in the form of a booster seat or a child car seat. A booster seat is commonly known as a seat that attached to an existing vehicle seat where the seat uses the existing belt restraint system of the vehicle. Such a booster seat is commonly used for older children. Also, a child restraint may be in the form of a child car seat, which is secured itself directly to the vehicle, such as by the car's seat belt system or directly to the frame of the vehicle using hooks, and other attachment mechanisms and systems.
Many countries around the world have standardized how a child car seat is to be secured to a vehicle seat and how movement of the seat is controlled in the event of an impact to improve the overall safety of children's car seats in vehicles.
Turning first to interconnection of the child restraint seat to a vehicle seat, a system called Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) is commonly used, which includes two lower anchor attachments and a top tether. The term is often used generically to refer only to the pair of fixed lower loop shaped anchors built into the bight or crack between the seat back and seat cushion. Prior Art FIG. 1 shows such a lower loop, typically made of metal, which are specifically designed for children's car seat installation. When used, existing seatbelts are no longer necessary to install the car seat because the child car seat is mounted directly to the vehicle via the metal loops using webbing or a “rigid” connector. This makes it easier to install car seats safely, and to make it more universal among car seats and vehicles. Compatible corresponding LATCH coupling systems are now commonly found on child car seat bases, rear-facing, front-facing and combination booster seats and those that have an internal harness.
The LATCH system was originally called ISOFIX, which is a term still used in Europe. Canada employs a similar standard called the Universal Anchorage System (UAS). It has also been called the Universal Child Safety Seat System or UCSSS. All of foregoing systems refer to the same universal anchorages that started to appear on car models starting in about the year 2000. These are now required by law in the United States for almost all model year 2003 and later vehicles.
As seen in FIG. 2, a child car seat is secured directly to the loop of a LATCH system by use of webbing included with the child car seat. The webbing is routed through the loop of the LATCH system and then tensioned to tightly tether the child car seat to the vehicle car seat. One or more LATCH loops can be used to respectively tether one or more points of the child car seat in place. Looped tensioned webbing through a LATCH loop is undesirable because it must be threaded through the LATCH loop. As an alternative, rigid interconnects can be used.
More preferably, a coupling is employed to releasably interconnect the free webbing attached to the child car seat to the LATCH loop(s). This facilitates and speeds up the installation of a child car seat to the LATCH loops. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a lower anchor coupling that is known in the art for this purpose. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the coupling including a closed loop to receive the webbing that is attached to the child car seat. Details of such webbing and the tensioning thereof need not be discussed in further detail herein because they are so well known in the art. As seen in FIG. 4, a locking pawl in the open side can be disengaged by actuation of the button. The locking pawl is spring-biased to a closed position. Preferably, the open side of the coupling, with webbing attached to the opposite side thereof, is pressed over the LATCH loop to temporarily open the pawl so that the LATCH loop is captured by the pawl. To release the LATCH loop from the locking pawl, the button is actuated so the coupling can be disconnect to free the child car seat from the LATCH system of the car.
The primary problem associated with the prior art coupling of FIGS. 3 and 4 is that it is not designed for these increased loads. The actual internal operating mechanism itself is not robust enough to take the loads of a higher weight occupant in a child car seat. Also, the design of this prior art coupling suffers from an off-center webbing connector loop which results in uneven/asymmetrical loads to the coupling, which reduces the structural integrity of the coupling and the entire child car seat installation. Also, the location and direction of travel of the release button of this prior art coupling is cumbersome and difficult to use. The locking pawl of this prior art device is only a single piece of steel, resulting in a relatively small bearing and support area. This limits the overall strength and integrity of the coupling. In summary, the prior art lower anchor coupling of FIGS. 3 and 4 is inadequate for securing child car seats with large loads, such as child car seats with larger children seated therein.
While the prior art lower anchor coupling is useful in many respects, it suffers from many disadvantages. For example, it is difficult to interconnect a seat to the LATCH/ISOFIX system of a vehicle and to match of the two connectors that affix to the fixed metal loops of the system. There are problems in the prior art in that it is not always clear to the installer whether the child restraint seat is successfully secured to the vehicle's LATCH/ISOFIX system.
Therefore, there is a need for a coupling system that can interface better with the child seat itself to provide more control over the interconnection of the child car seat to the vehicle seat and LATCH system. There is a desire for a child car seat to more easily connect to a vehicle's LATCH system. There is a need to be able to determine whether the child car seat has been successfully interconnected to the vehicle's LATCH system. There is a need for a system that enables the locking connectors to slide in an out in tandem to further facilitate interconnection of a child car seat to a vehicle's LATCH system. There are further needs for a LATCH coupling that is easy to use, namely, one that is easy to install and disconnect.